A loud crash echoed through the garage.
Someone had broken the passenger-side window.
His mother pulled Ethan toward the emergency exit.
"Go!"
"What about you?"
"GO, ETHAN!"
He ran toward the stairs.
Behind him, he heard a gunshot.
Then another.
He turned around.
His mother was standing beside the car, facing two armed men.
One of them raised his weapon.
Ethan shouted.
"NO!"
But before the man could fire, a third figure emerged from the darkness.
A man in a black coat.
He moved quickly, disarmed the gunman, and knocked the second man to the ground.
Then he turned toward Ethan.
The scar across his left eyebrow was unmistakable.
Ethan stopped breathing.
The man stared at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then the stranger slowly lowered his weapon.
"Ethan?"
The young officer's eyes filled with tears.
"Dad?"
The man nodded.
But before Ethan could take another step, his father looked toward his mother and said:
"Why did you bring him here?"
His mother lowered her gun.
"Because there's no more time."
His father looked at Ethan again.
Then he said something that destroyed every assumption his son had ever made.
"There's one thing you need to know."
Ethan stepped closer.
"What?"
His father swallowed.
"Sergeant Reeves isn't the leader of The Black Circle."
He paused.
"He's been protecting us from the real leader."
Ethan frowned.
"Then who is it?"
His father looked toward the entrance of the garage.
A familiar voice answered from behind them.
"Me."
Captain Miller stepped out of the shadows.
And he was smiling.
Captain Miller stood beneath the flickering lights of the parking garage, smiling as if he had just walked into an ordinary conversation.
But nobody else was smiling.
Ethan stared at him, unable to understand what was happening.
His father stood in front of him, holding a gun. His mother was beside an abandoned car, breathing heavily. And Captain Miller, the man who had led the police department for nearly fifteen years, was standing only a few meters away.
"Put the weapon down, Robert," Miller said calmly.
Ethan turned toward his father.
"Robert?"
His father didn't respond.
Miller continued walking.
"Twenty-three years, Robert. That's how long you've been running. Don't you think it's time we finished this?"
Robert tightened his grip on the gun.
"Stay where you are."
Miller laughed.
"You always were a stubborn man."
"Who else knows you're here?" Robert asked.
"Nobody."
"You're lying."
"Perhaps. But does it really matter?"
Miller glanced at Ethan.
"Look at him. He's grown up exactly as you wanted. A police officer. A good man. Someone who believes the badge represents justice."
He paused.
"Such a shame."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Why are you doing this?"
Miller looked at him.
"Because your father stole something that belongs to me."
"What?"
"The truth."
Miller's expression changed.
"Twenty-three years ago, your father discovered a financial network operating inside the police department. He believed he could expose everyone involved. He believed that justice would protect him."
He smiled bitterly.
"He was wrong."
Robert raised his gun.
"Enough."
Miller ignored him.
"Your father was supposed to hand over the evidence. Instead, he disappeared. Thousands of documents vanished with him. People died. Careers ended. And I spent twenty-three years cleaning up his mess."
"Cleaning up?" Ethan repeated. "You murdered people."
Miller's eyes narrowed.
"Careful, Officer Cole. You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Then explain it."
For the first time, Miller looked genuinely irritated.
"Your father was not the hero you imagine."
Robert suddenly shouted.
"Don't listen to him!"
Miller laughed.
"Why? Because I'm telling him what really happened?"
He slowly reached inside his jacket and removed a photograph.
He held it toward Ethan.
It showed a young woman standing beside Robert.
Ethan recognized her.
It was Victoria Morgan.
But there was something strange about the photograph.
On the back was a handwritten date.
October 14, 2003.
And beneath it were three words:
The night she died.
Miller looked at Ethan.
"Do you know what your father did that night?"
Robert's face went pale.
"Put that away."
"No. I think the boy deserves to know."
Miller took another step.
"Victoria wasn't simply investigating the Black Circle. She was working with your father to destroy it. But when the operation went wrong, someone had to make a choice."
Ethan looked between them.
"What choice?"
Miller answered immediately.
"Your father chose to save himself."
Robert's gun lowered slightly.
"That's not what happened."
"Then tell him the truth."
Robert remained silent.
Miller smiled.
"Exactly."
Suddenly, a loud metallic crash echoed from the upper level.
Everyone turned.
A second vehicle had entered the garage.
The headlights illuminated the concrete pillars.
Miller's expression changed.
"Interesting. I thought I had more time."
Robert looked at his wife.
"Did you call them?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Then a familiar voice came from the darkness.
"Nobody called me."
A woman stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
Black suit.
Dark hair.
Cold expression.
Victoria Morgan.
Ethan stared at her.
"How are you here?"
Victoria looked at him.
"That's a long story."
Miller slowly raised his weapon.
"You're supposed to be dead."
Victoria smiled.
"People keep saying that."
She reached into her jacket and displayed the golden badge.
"The difference between you and me, Miller, is that I know when to stay dead."
Before Miller could respond, the garage lights suddenly shut off.
Gunshots exploded through the darkness.
Someone screamed.
Ethan felt a hand grab his shoulder.
"DOWN!"
His father pushed him behind the car.
Another shot struck the metal door.
Then everything went silent.
When the emergency lights returned, Miller had disappeared.
Victoria was standing near the entrance, holding a small black device.
Robert approached her.
"You shouldn't have come."
Victoria looked at him.
"Neither should you."
Ethan stood up.
"Can someone please explain what's happening?"
Victoria looked at him for a long moment.
Then she spoke.
"Your father didn't steal the evidence, Ethan."
She pointed toward Robert.
"He is the evidence."
Ethan frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Victoria took a deep breath.
"Twenty-three years ago, Robert signed an agreement with the Black Circle. He gave them information in exchange for protection for his family."